Chine co



May 26, 1931. w. A. LEONARD HAT BRIM FLANGING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 21, 1928 gnvwflm William flL eonard Patented May 26, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM A. LEONARD, OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO W. A. LEONARD MA.-

CHINE CO. INC., OF DANBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT HAT BRIM FLANGING MACHINE Application filed December. 21, 1928. Serial No. 327,652.

rapidly operated to the end that one operator can take care of several machines and wherein both straight and curled brims may be shaped and set.

The invention comprises in part a lathe, a hat form supported thereon, in which the hat to be flanged is. positioned, to be rotatably operated, beneath a novel design of heated iron that is swivelly and flexibly supported upon the under rim portion of a hat, in a way to traverse the surface and particularly the 25 edge or rim portion to curl and set the same.

The machine further includes a carrier for the iron, and operating means whereby the iron may be conveyed to and from the work to allow hats to be removed and placed in position upon the lathe.

With these and other objects in view, the invention resides and consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction within the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departure from the spirit, or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Similar characters of reference denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and upon which 1 shows a side elevation of my improved flanging machine as in the act of operating upon the brim of a hat;

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevational view showing a modified form of hat block, a different style of hat brim and iron with curling plate removed;

Fig. 5 shows a detached perspective view of the flexible hanger, for the iron, shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 6 shows a detached perspective view of the curling plate shown attached to the 1ron in Figs. 1 and 2. I

Referring in detail to the characters of reference marked upon the drawings 10represents, the bed of my machine which as shown in the drawings is supported upon legs 11 and is provided with. hangers 1212 upon its underside to form bearings, 13 in V driving shaft carriesga worm 17 that meshes with and drives a worm gear 18 upon a vertically disposed lathe spindle 19 journaled in'a bearing 20 fastened to the underside of the bedjof the machine and having secured to its upper end a table 21 that is rotated through the driving connections just described. This table carries a pair of supporting blocks 22 upon which theannular hat form 23 is positioned. This form is provided with holes to receive the pins24 secured in the blocks 22 for the purpose of holding the form' in position on the blocks and insuring its rotation with the lathe table.

This hat form 23 is provided with, an oval opening to receive the crown of a hat 25 when placed upon the form in an inverted position and is also provided with a top flange portion 26 of proper dimension and shape to determine the shape of brim and style of curl desired. It being obvious that various styles of forms would be required in the fianging of different styles of hats.

The iron supporting and operating means is such as to allow the iron to work upon the undersurface of a hat brim or the uppermost surface of the inverted hat illustrated in Figs. 1. 2 and 4 and is of such a nature as to require manual operations for the placing of the iron upon the hat and the removal of the same, when the ironing operation is completed and it becomes necessary for the removal of the finished hat and the substitution of a new one to be flanged. This supporting means includes an upright 27 at the motor end of the machine and a somewhat similar iuaright 28 at the other end of the machine, said uprights serving to carry a pair of horizontal guide rods 29 and 30 that are preferably positioned one above the other and in spaced relation to each other.

A reciprocatory carrier 31 having holes therein to receive the rods'is mounted upon the said rods in a manner to be moved backward and forward thereon from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 to the position shown .7 in dotted lines in the same figure, whereby the iron is moved from an operative position to a position of rest.

A spring 32. one end of which is secured to the upper end of the standard 28 and the other end to the carrier serves to yieldably hold the carrier and iron in its forward operative position while the spring 33 mounted upon the rod 30 between the standard 28 and the carrier 31 affords a cushioning means against which the spring 32 holds the carrier. thus insuring flexibility and ease of op eration. The carrier 31 is operated horizontally upon its rods by means of an operating lever 34 shown mounted upon the end of a shaft 35 journaled in bearings 36 of the frame and which shaft carries upon its other end an arm 37, the upper end of which is connected by a link 38 with a member 39 positioned between thotwo rods 29 and 30 having its other end secured to the carrier 31 and mounted to reciprocate'in a bearing of the upright 27 between the two said rods. One of the bearings 36 is provided with a rack 40 including a pin hole to receive a holding pin 41 that may be positioned therein to engage a corresponding hole in the handle 34 in a way to retain the same and carrier 31 in the position of rest indicated by dotted lines and against the action of the spring 32.

A flexible supporting means is secured to the under side of the carrier to provide a suitable hanger for the iron 42. This hanger, see Figs. 1 and 5, includes an angle iron 43 which is secured to the underside of the lower end of the carrier and has one end of a plate 44 hinged thereto as at 45, the other end of this plate is yieldably supported by a link 46. whose upper end is mounted upon a screw 47 passing through the slot of the link and carried by the before mentioned member 43. The connection of the plate and link may be like that at the upper end of the link including a screw or pin 48 that passes freely through the slot of the link and is seated in the end of the plate. This construction obviously forms a flexibly supported plate that is hinged at one end so that its other end may rise and fall with the movement and rise and fall of the iron without adding extra pressure thereto.

The iron is hung from this plate through a ball and socket connection in addition to the upward movement just described and is afforded a slight rocker movement so that the iron tilts slightly sidewise and forward or backward as the different surfaces of the hat brim pass thereunder. This connection more particularly comprises a ball 49 which is seated in a socket formed between two plates 50 and 51 that are secured to the top side of the iron by screws 52. This ball is provided with ashank 53 that passes up through a hole in the plate 44 heretofore mentioned and is secured thereto by means of nuts, as shown.

The iron 42 may be an electric iron heated by any suitable form of electrical. heating unit, not shown, contained within the shell of the iron and provided with current through the wire connection 54 shown. The upper portion of the iron may be formed of cast iron while the lower member 55 is preferably formed of bronze. This bronze surfacing member has its under face cut away, curved from front to rear as shown in Fig. 3 and likewise curved from its inner side to its bottom face, see Figs. 2 and 4, thus to better conform to the run of shapes of hat brims, though in this connection it should be borne in mind that it is not the intent to have the iron fit flat upon the brim but to engage it in part by the rounded face of the iron surface in a manner to better allow the brim to pass under it by continuous movement, thus avoiding any possibility of dwell and consequent burning or injury to the hat.

The kind of surface for the bottom of the iron, as shown in Fig. 4, is suflicient when straight brimmed hats are to be finished, whereas with Alpine or other forms of curled brims a slightly different style of form 23 would be used, see Fig. 2, and a curling plate 56 would be used in connection with the iron as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. This plate is made attachable by dowel pins 57 which are secured to the plate and adapted to be positioned in holes of the bronze member 55 of the iron and in addition to be secured thereto by a clamping member 58 which is made fast to the curling plate and detachably secured to the bronze member 55 by thumb screw 59. This curling plate 56 is provided with a. projected bevelled flanged edge portion 60 which, when the plate is assembled, serves to project forward producing a suitable longitudinal groove in the underside of the iron to engage the outer curled edge of the brim in a way to press the same against the annular edge of the form and to shape the edge to that of the form.

A flat sheet steel spring 61 is secured to the carrier 31 and extends down and engages the outer side of the iron in a way to afford suflicient pressure thereagainst to hold it snugly against the annular curled edge of the rim, which pressure together with that of the weight of the iron is suflicient to curl and set the brim with a relatively few rotations of the hat beneath the iron.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a hat brim flanging machine, a lathe,

7 means for supporting a hat upon the lathe, a

carrier, a movable plate carried thereby, an

iron, a flexible joint having one member secured to the carrier and another member carried by the iron, means for moving the carrier andiron into and out of working position, means tending to move the carrier in one direction and cushion means to limit the movement of the carrier.

2. In a hat fianging machine, a lathe and means for supporting a hat thereon, a carrier, a movable plate carried thereby, an iron, a flexible joint having one member secured to the plate and another to the iron, spring means to normally hold the iron in working position upon the hat, and manual means for 3 moving the iron away from the hat against the action of said spring.

3. In a hat brim flanging machine, a lathe, means for supporting a hat upon the lathe, an iron to engage the brim of a hat, a carrier,

spring means for moving the iron into working position, manual means for moving the iron out of working position, means to secure the iron in non-working position against the action of the spring means, flexible means for mounting the iron, and means including a flat spring for holding the iron in engagement with a hat brim.

Signed at Danbury in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut this 15th day of December, A. D. 1928.

WILLIAM A. LEONARD. 

